


The Night Shift

by CosmicCollision



Series: Keithtober 2019 [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Keith (Voltron) is super considerate, Keithtober, Keithtober 2019, Shiro (Voltron) teases his brother, working
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-12-01 19:28:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20874599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicCollision/pseuds/CosmicCollision
Summary: Keith and Shiro work the night shift together. Adam works a normal schedule.





	The Night Shift

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Keithtober, based on the prompts that @98littleducks ( https://twitter.com/98littleducks ) posted. The prompt for day 3 is Night Owl/Morning Person.
> 
> Here's the link to the tweet for anyone that is curious; https://twitter.com/98littleducks/status/1173951542271066112?s=09
> 
> My dad actually used to work as a carpenter at a nuclear power plant, so I know a good bit from his stories, but of course, I filled in the holes of my knowledge with absolute bullshit, so. Don’t believe everything you read here.
> 
> Also, I never seem to really use the prompt word? Like, I drew inspiration from this prompt (because they’re working the night shift), but it doesn’t exactly translate directly into morning person/night owl. I hope that’s alright?

Keith had not expected to end up working at a nuclear power plant when he finished his apprenticeship with his brother’s carpenters union.

That isn’t to say that it wasn’t interesting, nor that he did not enjoy it. He just didn’t really think that his skills were needed someplace so...dangerous. To be honest, his first day on the job had scared him quite a bit. They had been going through the protocol for entering the structure walls, where there was quite a bit of radiation. They showed him how to suit up, and it took them longer to explain to him what would happen if the suit was put on wrong than it took to show him how to put on the suit.

He was most worried about the fact that if anything went wrong, they would shave all his hair off. Which, he didn’t really care all that much about how long his hair was, he just never bothered to get it cut. But to be bald? He didn’t think he could rock that look. One of the women he knew in passing that worked a different shift than him hadn’t passed through decontamination clean after getting out of her radiation protection suit, and she had gotten all of her hair cut off, and even though she did not seem bothered by it, Keith couldn’t say if he would handle it with the same grace as she did.

Another interesting thing about working at a nuclear power plant was that the thing needed maintenance at all hours of the day. Considering the chemical process going on in it (one that Keith didn’t even pretend to understand), it was no surprise that you couldn’t just shut it off at 5 while everyone went home.

This resulted in the employees being split between different shifts. Some of them were good, and some were absolute shit. But to be fair, people were rotated between shifts on a four-week schedule. This has its positives and negatives; if you ended up on a bad shift, you only had to suffer through it for four weeks. But when you switched shifts at the end of those four weeks, you had to re-adjust to the new work hours.

Right now, Shiro and Keith were working the night shift. That means their shifts start at midnight and go until eight in the morning. It was their second week on this shift, and both had volunteered to work weekends for the extra pay.

Adam was never a fan of these shifts, but wouldn’t complain. As far as working as a carpenter went, being a union worker at a nuclear power plant paid very well. They also had some great benefits.

But, this was a bit difficult. It meant that when Shiro and Keith were leaving for work, Adam was trying to get sleep before he had to work the next day. Adam, unfortunately, was cranky if he didn’t get enough sleep. Which made it extremely inconvenient that Shiro and Keith were usually making noise as they prepared for their day to start while he was winding down from his.

That was how Keith found himself in his current predicament, a plate caught in his elbow at a difficult angle, glass cup in his other hand, and fork stuck between his forearm and body, all while holding his phone. He didn’t dare move for fear of dropping any of them and waking Adam up, glancing at the analog clock and seeing that it was already well past eleven, knowing he just went to sleep. Shiro is in the shower, trying to wake himself up before he and Keith leave for work.

And Keith literally cannot move. He was lucky that he had caught them all in the first place when they had fallen, but now he was standing there, sweating, waiting to hear the shower turn off so Shiro could help him.

And once it finally did and his brother came outside to greet him, one panicked look from Keith sent Shiro into a roaring laughing fit, barely silenced by his hands.

“This is not funny!” Keith hissed quietly, seething. “Come over here and help me!”

But Shiro could barely stand, dropping to the floor roughly, shoulders shaking in mirth.

“Are you crying?” Keith asked, his patience running thin. “For the love of god, get over here before your fiance  _ wakes up and murders us _ .”

Finally, after way too long, Shiro came over and grabbed the items out of the precarious places Keith had caught them and placed them on the counter. “I can’t believe you,” Shiro whispered fondly, grabbing his keys and following Keith’s angry (but quiet) march to the front door. “How long were you holding them for?”

“None of your business.”

A high-pitched laugh came from behind him now that they were outside. “So long enough to be embarrassing.”

Keith ignored him and slammed the car door shut behind him.

*~*~*~*

It was an overall rough night at work. Shiro had told one of their coworkers the story about Keith’s struggle before they left, and within the hour everyone had been laughing about it. None of it was mean spirited, but Keith was just ready for it to be forgotten. The only benefit was that the cute secretary with the button nose and sharp jawline that he has been frequently flirting back and forth with had made it a point to come over and tell Keith that he thought it had been really sweet.

But other than that, it was a rough shift, and he was just happy to be going home.

He let Shiro run off to shower first when normally he would try to race him there so he could get to sleep sooner, and sat heavily at the kitchen table. Adam strolled in and started rustling around on the stove. Keith paid him no mind, dosing lightly with his head in his arms.

Next thing he knew, a plate full of his favorite breakfast foods was being placed in front of him, and a kiss was planted on his head. “Don’t worry, I’ll give Shiro hell.”

Keith merely smiled his thanks and dug in while he watched Adam stalk off to the bathroom. Next thing Keith knew he was hearing his brother shout, “ _ Turn the hot water back on! _ ”

He smiled around a mouthful of cheesy eggs, closing his eyes and basking in the desperate sounds of Shiro hopping out of the shower. Worth every second of humiliation.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Twitter: @_MissCosmic_  
( https://twitter.com/_MissCosmic_?s=09 )


End file.
